Protanura Börner, 1906

Smolis, Adrian, Skarżyński, Dariusz, Kahrarian, Morteza & Kaprus’, Ighor J., 2016, Redescription of Protanura papillata Cassagnau & Delamare Deboutteville, 1955 (Collembola, Neanuridae, Neanurinae), with new records from Middle East, and with supplemented diagnosis and key to the genus, Zootaxa 4092 (2), pp. 293-300 : 294

Genus Protanura Börner, 1906

Protanura Börner, 1906: 167 .

Type species: Neanura pseudomuscorum Börner, 1903 , by subsequent designation by Cassagnau 1979: 192.

New diagnosis. Colour in alive yellow or bluish grey, blue hypodermic pigment present or absent.2+2 or 3+3 dark pigmented eyes. Dorsal tubercles and reticulations present, well developed. Ant. IV with 8 subequal S–setae. Labral chaetotaxy 0/2, 4 or 2/2, 5, 4. Mouthparts complex and modified, maxilla with 2–3 lamellae, in most species dentate or ciliate, mandible massive and multidentate. Tubercles Af and Cl on head fused or separate. Setae A on head distinctly shorter than setae B. Lateral part of head with tubercles Dl and (L+So). Tubercles Di and De on head separate. Arrangement of chaetae Di and De on head of the uncross-type (Deharveng 1983). Tubercles Di on abdominal segment IVseparate or fused. Tubercles Di on abdomen V fused along midline. Furca rudimentary without microchaetae. Cryptopygy absent. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy 19, 19, 18. Claw with or without inner tooth.

Discussion. The majority of Neanurini members have reduced and not hypertrophied mouthparts, with a styliform maxilla consisting of no more than one dentate lamella and a thin mandible, usually tridentate with an apical tooth seldom subdivided. At present, there are only a few genera with some species that are characterized by slightly or strongly modified mandibles e.g. Endonura Cassagnau, 1979 , Cryptonura Cassagnau, 1979 , Pumilinura Cassagnau, 1979 , Edoughnura Deharveng, Hamra-Kroua & Bedos, 2007 and Lathriopyga Caroli, 1910 (Deharveng et al. 2007, Smolis et al. 2007, 2012, Buşmachiu et al. 2010, and Mayvan et al. 2015). Among them, the last one seems to be closely allied to the studied genus in having the non-cross-type chaetotaxy of the head and the fusion of tubercles Di on the penultimate segment of the abdomen. However, Protanura can be readily differentiated from Lathriopyga by separate tubercles Oc and Af on the head (in Lathriopyga fused), as well as Di and De (in Lathriopyga fused), and the absence of cryptopygy (in Lathriopyga present). Besides these diagnostic features, most Lathriopyga species have three non-reticulate areas on the central tubercle of the head (in all Lathriopyga except L. hellenica Ellis, 1976 present; in all Protanura absent) and an internal tooth on the claw (in all Lathriopyga except L. montana Deharveng, 1985 and L. krizevacensis Barra, 1993 present; in all Protanura except P. pseudomuscorum and P. deharvengi absent). Moreover, all Lathriopyga have tubercles Di on the fourth abdominal segment fused along the midline, while all Protanura , except P.papillata , have separate tubercles.